The effectiveness of behavioral therapy counseling sessions on the psychosocial adjustment of young soccer players

Abstract

 Football is one of the most prominent team sports, requiring players to have a high degree of emotional control during preparation or competition, as this has a direct impact on skill learning and actual performance. From this standpoint, the importance of the current research is embodied in identifying the effectiveness of behavioral therapeutic counseling sessions in developing psychosocial adjustment among young football players, which contributes to raising their psychological, behavioral and skill levels. From this standpoint, the researcher decided to implement counseling sessions aimed at developing psychosocial adjustment among young football players, in an attempt to raise their behavior and modify it in a manner consistent with the specificity of the age group of the research sample. The most important objectives are to identify the effectiveness of behavioral therapeutic counseling sessions in developing psychosocial adjustment among young football players. The researcher used the experimental method by designing two equivalent groups (experimental and control) with pre- and post-tests, as it is compatible with the nature of solving the research problem. The research community was determined by the youth football players of Al-Najaf Club for the sports season (2024-2025), numbering (26) players. The most important conclusions are that the counseling sessions, based on the theory of realistic therapy and based on the method of group counseling and through the method of group discussions, had a clear impact on developing psychosocial adjustment of young soccer players. The most important recommendations include the need to provide specialized lectures to players during training sessions by a specialist in psychological counseling and sports psychology.